Chapter 1

Amelia Hayes, James Foster's secretary, sent a Valentine's Day package to our home. I opened it without thinking much. Only after I looked inside did I realize what it was. The box was filled with condoms in different flavors.

Before I could even react, Amelia started calling. She was already crying, her voice loud and sharp.

"One is missing. The strawberry one. Did Evelyn make you sleep with her?"

James denied it, sounding helpless. But Amelia refused to let it go.

"Then prove it to me. If you can't, don't even think about touching me tonight."

James had no way out. He came into the bedroom while I was still asleep. He woke me and pulled me out of bed. Then he took me straight to the hospital for an examination.

I broke down and shouted at him.

"James, even if you don't love me, I have been with you since I was eighteen. And now you want me to prove something to the other woman. Do you have any shame at all?"

His expression stayed cold. He let out a quiet, mocking laugh.

"Oh, you care about shame? If you did, you wouldn't have been with me at eighteen."

I froze. For a moment, I could not move. Then the tears came all at once.

Fine.

This time, I'd let go of my pride, and I'd let go of him.

*****

He watched me cry. For once, there was a trace of guilt in his eyes.

"I was in a hurry tonight. I had no choice. Just help me this once."

"I will transfer the hillside villa to your name. Then we can forget about all of this."

I could not stop crying. James bent down to pick up my clothes. Then he stepped closer and tried to pull me into his arms.

"It's alright now. Let me help you get dressed."

The moment he touched me, I pushed him away. My body reacted before I could think. I stumbled back and shrank away from him.

"Don't touch me."

James had never been rejected like this before. His face darkened at once. He frowned and threw the clothes onto the floor.

"If you hadn't taken that strawberry one apart on purpose, she wouldn't have made such a fuss."

Rain poured heavily outside the window. As I listened to it, I felt as if I had gone back to that stormy night when I was eighteen.

My father had gambled away all my student loan money. I had nowhere else to turn, so I went to James, who had always had feelings for me, and told him I needed money.

"Don't love money. Love me," he said. "Whatever you want, I will give it to you."

I was too young back then. I did not understand that what feels like a gift can also be a trap.

I wiped my tears and tried to steady my breathing. Still, my voice trembled.

"I am not pretending to be pure," I said.

"But I did not do something as pointless as tampering with your things."

His phone rang with a sharp, urgent tone. He picked it up at once, and his expression softened.

"This is the report the doctor just gave me. You believe me now, right?"

On the screen, Amelia appeared. She looked a lot like me. When she saw the report, she stopped crying. Then she smiled and began to act spoiled, clinging to him and asking me to apologize.

James glanced at me. I had just finished getting dressed. He did not hesitate.

"Apologize to her."

I did not argue anymore. I spoke calmly.

"I was wrong. I'm sorry"

James paused for a second, then turned and walked out.

"I told you I would not trade a diamond for something worthless, and you still doubted me."

I was wrong.

I was wrong to misjudge a man's sincerity back then, and I was wrong to underestimate the cruelty of the man beside me now.

The winter wind cut through me like a blade. I pulled my coat tighter around myself, but the pain in my chest only grew heavier, like something dull carving into it.

In the distance, fireworks rose into the sky. The crowd stirred with excitement.

"Wow, this girl named Amelia is so lucky. Fireworks like this must cost a hundred thousand dollars."

Such grand and passionate gestures could only be from James.

When I returned to the Foster house, the housekeeper did not even wait for me to change my shoes. He yawned and tossed a velvet box in front of me.

"Mr. Foster asked me to give this to you. A holiday gift."

My heart, already numb, tightened for a moment. I opened the box. A long, light brown strand of curled hair was caught between the beads of a fine diamond necklace.

James' Valentine's gift to me was something Amelia had already grown tired of.

I set it aside at the entrance without a second thought. Then I took out my phone and called my lawyer.

"Help me draft a divorce agreement," I said. "As soon as possible."